Six-hour jet boat tour provides overview of America’s deepest gorgeTipping over in a rapid in the Snake River is not the biggest hazard of a six-hour jet boat tour of Hells Canyon – it’s getting tangled with poison ivy during shore stops.

There were about 25 of us on the Gusto Del Rio, a jet boat operated by Hells Canyon Adventures just below Oxbow Dam. It was a rainy Saturday when the sun appeared only briefly at the very end of the trip, a rare summer occurrence in a canyon named after a very hot place. It had been 104 degrees on the river the day before, we were told.

I am among the Wallowa County residents who never seem to get much beyond the Wallowa Valley most of the time, despite the riches of geological wonders that make the county one of the most diverse parts of Oregon.

A day on a jet boat through Hells Canyon – which is not exactly easily accessible from Wallowa County despite the fact that it forms part of our border with Idaho – was just the ticket to tune in to a geological, historical and fun experience.

Our guides were boat pilot Mark Yates, who warned us to cover our cameras when we went through a rapids; and Glenda Hills, who provided a wealth of information about each part of the canyon we passed.

Hills informed us that while Hells Canyon is the deepest canyon in North America (the highest point is 9,393 feet on the Idaho side and 6,982 feet at Hat Point in Oregon), it doesn’t look as deep as the Grand Canyon because it is a “low relief canyon,” which means you can’t see the high point from the low point any where in the gorge.

She pointed out the mailboxes along the river, and talked about the early days when the mail boat was the only regular contact with the outside world. She pointed out a place high on a ridge called Suicide Point named so because the trail there was so narrow that two mule pack trains meeting each other would be suicide.

At the small McCaffee Cabin – whose only inhabitants are now a family of pack rats – we marveled that the McCaffes raised seven children in those two rooms with loft.

One place we visited was red pictographs at Bernard Creek – a short hike up from the river, dodging plentiful poison ivy patches – created by Nez Perce artists from 400 to 1,000 years ago. Don’t touch – chemical reactions with the oil on human hands is very destructive.

Lunch was a buffet of cold cuts, salad, melon and brownies, enjoyed on picnic tables under trees which semi-sheltered us from the rain at the Historic Kirkwood Ranch. Kirkwood is the one-time home of Len Jordan, who later became governor of Idaho and a U.S. Senator, and his wife Grace, who later wrote “Home Below Hells Canyon.”

Those on the boat included a vineyard owner from Australia, teachers from Gresham who had just completed a class titled “Exploring Wallowa County” in Enterprise, a couple from California who were just starting a vacation to Alaska and a large contingent from the Chieftain and East Oregon Publishing Co.

Part of the trip was enjoying the high-powered ride (three engines containing a total of almost 1,000 horsepower) down and then up the river, including the thrill of rough and exciting (at least to this non-rafter) ride through the series of rapids in the first 20 mile stretch of river.

When one of our party complimented our pilot on his knowledge of the river after a high-power maneuver through a rapids that at one point had us headed straight toward a big rock. “Oh, I just point the boat and closed my eyes,” he joked.

The jet boat braked often – every time we approached a raft or smaller boat, on river or on shore – to avoid creating a big wake that would endanger or damage the other crafts. The conflict between jet boat and rafter over permits and use, which was well publicized a few years ago, was hardly visible, as we exchanged waves and friendly greetings with most rafters as we passed by.

The only wildlife we say during our journey through the canyon were two bald eagles and a buck – not exactly novelties to Wallowa County residents – but there was a thrill seeing them in the big canyon, just the same. We also watched a fisherman on a boat on shore land a sturgeon, 7 feet 8 inches he called to us, before releasing the huge prehistoric fish back into the Snake.

The trip from the launching site to Pittsburg Landing, where our jet boat turned around, was only 34 miles, but there was a feeling of traveling through time during our one-day adventure in Hells Canyon.